


The Niro Case

by Beauty_in_decay



Category: Blue Exorcist
Genre: M/M, Strong Language, Violence, supernatural themes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-31
Updated: 2015-05-10
Packaged: 2017-12-13 13:58:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/825066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beauty_in_decay/pseuds/Beauty_in_decay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rin closed his eyes and sighed as Yukio cursed at him again. Really, what had the younger boy expected? Flowers? A song and dance? Was there even a card to say "Sorry for faking my death for five years to protect you?"? Probably not. It was all Tokyo's fault, If the city hadn't been invaded with demons then there would be no cursing younger twin in his ear!<br/>See inside for Warnings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Five years on

**Author's Note:**

> Hello. We would like to remind people that this is Sort-of AU, which means it is – in essence – a "what if" story. So Rin does NOT tell Shiro not to call himself his father ever again so Satan does not posses him. 
> 
> This is set four years later after that, Shiro and Yukio think that Rin is dead after leading the demon that was chasing after him away after Shiro is injured. We have to warn you there might be Yaoi in this. It might not be extreme but it will appear eventually but we will give warnings when it appears.
> 
> Summary; Rin closed his eyes and sighed as Yukio cursed at him again. Really, what had the younger boy expected? Flowers? A song and dance? Was there even a card to say "Sorry for faking my death for five years to protect you?"? Probably not. It was all Tokyo's fault, If the city hadn't been invaded with demons then there would be no cursing younger twin in his ear! 
> 
> Warnings; Language/violence/Supernatural themes.
> 
> PS. Regrettably neither of us has ever been to Tokyo so do not be expecting any detailed descriptions of the city landmarks. If anything, it is a made up city and we have borrowed the name Tokyo.

Grunting, Rin Okumura hit the twisted, ruined tarmac that had once been a road hard. The force throwing him back into the air before hitting the ground again at a spin, rolling until he passed a broken cable pole implanted in the roadside. Gripping it tightly he grunted as it forced his body up into the air to once again to swing round, momentum sending his booted feet into the face of the rabid demon that tried to jump him and a sick satisfaction fluttered in his stomach as the creature flew backwards and impaled onto another broken metal beam.

It screamed pitifully once before its body slumped forwards silently. A bloody grinned slipped Rin as he landed back on the ground, stumbling a little before falling to one knee. Slowly, as if taunting the now dead demon, he turned his head to the side and spat a mouthful of blood drawn form from the punch that had sent him spinning. Unsteadily the black haired teen rose to his feet, wincing as his bones ached and his muscles screamed.

Rin’s head snapped to the left as a demon’s gleeful laughter echoed down the street. With one more glance at the very dead monster, he set off down the road, slowing only to a grab a dark blue canvas bag. Moving with a deadly silence through the streets, ducking behind broken walls and into abandoned builds like a deadly predator with a mission and a bad attitude.

Tokyo city – once so defined as busy and lively was a dead city – overrun with demons and ghouls, the regrettable result of an explosion of a weird blue light that had ripped a hole right through the fragile wall between Assiah and Gehenna allowing a near constant wave of demons out until the Order had finally gotten their act together to patch up the hole. Immediately after that the cleanup crews had moved in and citizens evacuated but it wasn’t enough, too many people had been taken over and all the resources were being amalgamated into the mass cleansing rituals taking place all through the check points set up around the city.

That’s why Rin was running through the streets; no one would notice his little escapade amongst the carnage and if they did, he’d be long gone. If he stopped to take out as many of the demons as possible, whilst also looking for city centre for his exit point no one would be any wiser.

The only problem with his brilliant plan was there was supposedly a ‘Lord’ bumming about the city centre, his own personal mission being something ambiguously along the lines of ‘kill the Lord and the other demons will scatter’, no longer able to bundle together making them easier pickings for the Order and Rin’s master retrospectively.

Rin dropped to the ground by a broken down building that was once a bank, grumbling as he hit the cracked and dusty floor, rolling under a large slab of concrete narrowly missing something large and heavy patrolling for it dinner...or a snack. The bag clutched in his arms securely; he didn’t want to know what would happen if anyone caught him with his prize.

Surprised curses and cries rose up from the women, children and men huddled together in the far corner as they hid found themselves ignored as Rin continued to stride into what would have been a safe only five days ago, right at the back of the building swinging the bag over his shoulder. Taking a moment to mentally think of his rout Rin decided that the bank safe would only leave him with only twelve feet of steel, concrete and possibly money between him and his destination. Surprisingly and rather infuriatingly, the room was perfectly intact and Rin fleetingly pondered on the though of it doubling as a bomb shelter from World War Two. The contents – making him pause in the safes doorway – was not what he was expecting however; for stood before him was not messy piles of money and family fortunes but a ring of Hunters, four men and three women and all heavily armed.

One of the men (more like a boy if honestly was required) was sneering in distaste at one of the women, the metal loop in his eyebrow twisting in a way that Rin could only imagine as painful. A bleached blond streak ran down the centre of his head, his ears riddled with studs, and metallic loops in what must have been an extreme act of rebellion or just a really bold fashion statement. Not that Rin would know, having been cut off from the outside world for four years, for all he knew that _was_ the current fashion trend.

Another had bubblegum pink hair that made Rin cringe and a metal staff like thing in his hands, the gormless expression on his face as he watched the argument did nothing to enhance the impression of his intelligence especially if his hair was anything to go by.

Next to them was a small bald guy with glasses, who looked terrified and kept trembling like a spooked hamster, Rin quickly dismissed him as a chanter* instead of a fighter. Opposite him was a small busty blond girl in a kimono, tears in her eyes and an annoyingly pathetic expression seemingly engraved onto her what-would-be pretty face.

The girl beside her was a tall girl with a flat chest with dark purple hair, weird eyebrows and a glare to match her sharp words hissed at the others. Next to her was a tall busty woman in a bikini and short shorts with blond and red hair examining her chest.

It was not – for the main part – them that had Rin pause in his mission, odd-looking as they were. No, if it were not for the man that was very clearly their leader; with his grey hair as unruly as ever, his stupid grey goatee, round glasses and priest clothing Rin would most likely have carried on as if the group wasn’t even there.

The moment or two after Rin halted in the large doorway the exorcists turned to face him with an air of surprise and irascibility. Rin made a silent thanks to the devil that he had changed over the past four years as their eyes narrowed at him.

Shiro Fujimoto stepped forwards, a dark grimace on his face. Rin cocked an eyebrow and tried to resist sneering as the old mans puppies moved to crowd the Father. ‘ _So cute…’_ The taste of sarcasm was bitter in his mouth and Rin forced himself to swallow. If the payment he had to make for leaving his family to protect them was that they forgot about him, then so be it...

“Who are you?” Shiro ordered softly, his voice full of authority and command and the young demon recognised it from his childhood, like the time he and Yukio were caught sneaking into the kitchen in the dead of night when they were five years old in an effort to swipe some cookies.

Rin frowned, mildly affronted that the guy didn’t even recognise him AND that he was talking to him as if he was a disobedient child. Shacking his head so slightly no one noticed the boy cocked his head to the side, and disregarded the question as he tried to figure out why these people were here and why he was not staring at a broken-down court with a horde of demons bellow. ‘ _I was sure this was meant to be an opening to the city centre…I should be there already_ ’ He thought as he scratched a scar on his chin in habitude.                  

“Oi!” Strippy hissed, “Don’t just ignore Fujimoto-sama!”                                                                  

‘… _Left, right, straight, left, right, and right, left…I don’t think I missed a turn, I should be here, this is the only way to get here without having to fight through the armies of hell’_ Rin thought – brusquely ignoring the fashion statement/rebellious boy and his futile outrage – counting his turns, mentally glaring at the map he had memorised only hours ago in preparation for this stupid and rather easy mission trying to decide his next step.

Strippy took another step forwards, breaking their perfect formation that probably took years to perfect without someone tripping over and attempted to grab a fist full of his collar. However Rin hadn’t been ignoring them completely and responded with muscle memory instantaneously; slapping the reaching hand away before pointing one of his guns at the aggravated Strippy haired male.

Everyone froze, staring at the gun in bewilderment. _When had he pulled_ that _out?_ They all thought.

Rin however was doing the mental calculations of how much TNT it would take to blow the back wall away, running over all of the instructions and descriptions on the landmarks given to find a loophole. He had not missed anything from the briefing so why was he stuck. Where was the fighting? The killing? The rabid demons fighting for kingship of this hellhole?

“…I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere…” Rin muttered cantankerously under his breath, the others still heard him though and exchange perplexed glances.

“Erm…are you lost?” Pinkie asked carefully and Rin looked up, momentarily taken aback by the question before realising he had no choice and to be the kind of man that would kill anyone for any reason. And that included blowing the wall up regardless of how much trouble he’d be in if it killed one of the puppies Shiro seemed to be keeping with him nowadays.

“Nope. I’m fine. I’ll just be blowing a hole through that wall now,” Rin said aloofly in a breezy kind of way with a fake grin before moving the barrel of the gun from Strippy’s face to the wall behind Shiro, still grinning viciously. The exorcists cursed before jumping out of the way, just as the teen pulled the trigger. There was a loud bang followed by a crash and a swarm of smoke and dust rushed at them.

Rin closed his eyes and mouth, holding his breath as he hoisted the demon gun, years of practice and experience being his teacher and reminder in action. After counting to ten, the half demon opened his eyes to find a vast hole staring out into the place he wanted to be.

“Perfect. Almost worth the trouble I’m gonna be in later,” he said, in an almost describable joyful tone, his eyes locking with Pinkie’s shocked ones. “Well…Later Losers” Rin stated with an hollow smile after a somewhat awkward pause before running towards the hole, a flick of his wrist sending one of his many small curved knives sailing through the air to impale a demons head as it climbed through, hitting it point blank. Without looking first Rin sprinted through the hole, wrenching his knife free as he did so. Flipping over once, the half demon grunted slightly as his feet hit the back of another demon, ridding it down the slope of rubble like a surfer would a do wave.    

 _Father was here…maybe-No! Yukio was a part of my old life now; I cannot waste this mission to see a boy who never even liked me._ Rin scowled as he leapt from the back of the Demon firing shots off from his twin guns. _Damn them all_. Angry and aggravated the teen spun around to meet his adversary, a looming dangerous looking creature. _Ooh, loads of fun_ , he thought mockingly as they began to run at each other, snarling.

 

 

* * *

 

Shiro was silent as the young man so close in age to his own son flipped over the livid demon with ease, his guns blazing white as he fired repetitively at it. Shiro watched the boy laugh and smirk from his position on the lip of the exposed hole.

Soaked in its own blood the malevolent being shrieked in anger and swiped at the man, missing by a hairs breath as the child danced gracefully out of the way. Even Shiro had to frown at the torment it was being shown; the boy was clearly not trying to kill it, he was trying to make it angry for whatever purpose. The way he fought was not the exorcist style either; it was more ruthless and lethal than their style.

 _That child…I know him from somewhere.._. There was an explosion of red smoke as the juvenile threw a black ball at the demon, jumping away whilst the demon unceasing ran towards it, blind in its fury…and degenerated instantaneously as the smoke convoluted around it – human host and all. Shiro raised his eyebrows in shock and morbid interest; the demons reaction to the smoke was not something he had ever seen before. The teen stood up and grinned viciously at his triumph, although it was still empty, that much was clear even from up above.

Curious, Shiro analytically observed the adolescent male as he twisted out of a lower level demons warpath. The boy had long black hair tied into a braid; his face was sharp and angular, framed by his jagged raven fringe. He was tall and lean, probably standing eye to eye with Shiro himself. A set of torn and worn stonewashed dark skinny jeans hugged his toned legs whilst a simple dark blue faded print t-shirt with charred marks and tears all over it clung to his chest with perspiration from the humidity. A pair of weather-beaten black combat boots completed the run away look along with a scruffy canvas bag that the child had hooked over his left shoulder.

Shiro arched an eyebrow as he noticed – not for the first time – that strapped to his waist was a set of wicked looking guns, some holly bombs and a pair of curved blades that looked like they could do some serious damage, along with a sword strapped across his back.

There was a soft chortle and Shiro snatched his eyes away to face his grim best friend Methisto and solemn son, Yukio.            

“I see we have an uninvited guest midst us, huh?” Mephisto questioned, smirking maliciously as he glanced down at the boy who was now efficiently plucking off the lower levels of the demon as they scuttled towards him, a manic laugh escaping whenever he was not singing what sounded to be “Seven Nation Army”. Yukio turned his head away and let his face turn to a sneer at the irresponsible combat style. Shiro bit back the rebuke he wanted to spit out; Yukio was not a child anymore and could assess his own performance…even if he was currently acting like a spoilt one.

“Indeed, he appeared out of nowhere. I don’t think he was expecting us,” Shiro explained coldly as he fired a single shot through the head of the enemy crawling up the walls with a flick of his wrist. Shima chuckled nervously from his corner standing guard of Bon who was muttering protection chants under his breath, attracting everyone’s attention. The pink haired boy swallowed harshly, clearly unsettled by the abrupt shift in attention.

“Was it just me or did he seem lost. Before Bon got in his face I mean. It looked like he was running something through his head-like directions or something” Shiro frowned having noticed it as well but had written it off as his old age whispering things to him. Mephisto arched a sculptured eyebrow at his old friend.                                    

“Let’s find out. Yukio, Shima, Bon, Izumo. Bring him to me” the young exorcists nodded once before leaping out of the giant hole with a lot less grace that the boy. Shiro closed his eyes in prayer.                 

_Rin…protect us in our time of time of need. Please._

 

 

* * *

 

_“…Everyone knows about it_

_From the Queen England to the hounds of Hell-”_

Just when Rin had been about to get to his favoured part, he made a tactical pause as someone of the non-demonic kind shot at him. Strippy, Pinkie and Eyebrows were just behind the asshole with the gun, all of the rushing him. Above them all – in the bank safe – Shiro and Mephisto watched intensely and Rin fought off the urge to flip them off. _Why are you doing this to me old man_? Rin thought, glaring at Shiro, the old man looked away almost as if he knew to be chagrined.

Pinkie was the first brave (stupid) exorcist to leap at him, waving his staff around in a weird style that Rin acknowledged easily as the monks of the Cursed Temple’s style. The six months Rin had trained with them had him stooping bellow with ease, his hands shooting out to hit the boy’s pressure points, knocking him out. _– Rule one of group fighting; never just injure an opponent, take them out_.        

As Pinkie fell, Eyebrows leapt over his body, twin blades twisting in her skilled little hands. Rin sidestepped the blades before standing tall, his forearms clashing with hers; making it difficult for her to swing the blades down at him. However if she relaxed her wrists she would hit him in the chest – not that he gave her the time nor chance to do that – snaking a leg around hers, Rin twisted his body and hurled Eyebrows over his hip and at the other teen who slowed his assault to catch the girl. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled and Rin flipped over Pinkie’s metal staff that Strippy was swinging at him.

Vexed, the raven-haired male brought his heal down on the exorcist hand in a wide arch of his leg causing him to yelp and let go. Just as Rin was, about to perform a spinning kick to Strippy’s face another shot was fired and as it ricocheted off the staff still falling to the ground Rin cursed and leapt away, stumbling backwards gracelessly.

 _Damnit! What is with this boy and his crap timing!_ Rin groused to himself, moving into a low crouch, ready to spring into fight mode at any given time.

The staff hit the ground with a resounding _clank_.

In the stillness that followed, Rin allowed his eyes to wonder over the teen that kept shooting at him, a torrent of cold water rushed through his bones as he locked eyes with the shooter.

‘ _That is_ not _Yukio’_ Rin thought in disbelief, eyes drawn to the signature moles that he would recognise anywhere. _‘Holy shit, it is Yukio’_ Rin’s eyes widened in surprise before narrowing to glower with irritation ‘… _he is taller than I am!’_ Rin noticed with misery. ‘ _Not only did he interrupt my attacks but he is taller than I am as well!’_

Perturbed, Rin growled and turned his glare towards Strippy as the weird boy gambolled backwards to stand next to Yukio and Eyebrows – who was supporting Pinkie – all three were glaring at him like they were a threat as Yukio held him “hostage” by gun point. Not that Rin could not escape and still kick their butts, he was just wary of his younger twin shooting at him…again.

 _‘It is funny that now he does not have to pretend to love me his subconscious knows to hate me’_ Rin thought as he watched Yukio’s face. It seemed that his brother was conflicted by something – not that Rin cared, Yukio would probably try to kill him before confessing what was wrong.       

Yukio kept his gun levelled at Rin’s head, whilst Strippy muttered into an ancient-looking communicator, his tone respectable and polite. Rin almost snorted and rolled his eyes at the little puppy act. ‘ _Probably calling his Master…_ ’ Rin mused, visually reducing his crouch until he was sitting with his legs crossed, leaning backwards onto his hands, looking up at the three hunters with a small smirk. Yukio’s startled reaction was obvious enough to say he had agitated him; sadly, Rin was almost happy that he had unnerved his younger brother it had been so long since he had provoked him. Even when they were fifteen, it had been challenging to get a rise out of Yukio what with his cool and mature act. Bored with observing his brother Rin turned his scrutiny to the sky and almost grinned at the overcast.

Of course, the sky would be gloomy in a post-apocalyptic metropolitan; sunshine and rainbows just wouldn’t have looked right.

“Who are you?” Strippy barked and Rin pulled his eyes away from the sky to settle on the senseless boy who was attempting to interrogate him – not that it was working – and raised his eyebrows. If he didn’t respond to _Shiro_ , when he asked then what on earth made this _child_ think he would answer _him_! The intensity of his gaze almost made both Strippy and Eyebrows step backwards, the smell of fear rolling off them in waves. ‘ _Morons’_.

“I am no one, I am everyone. I am nothing I am everything-” Rin told them, bored. He cut himself off as the tip of his concealed tail twitched, watching with narrowed eyes as a dark shadow fell over Strippy, meeting the odd eyes of his elder half brother.

“You’re dodging the question, little boy” Strippy tensed as the immoral clown, Mephisto, placed a hand on his shoulder. Rin arced an eyebrow and retched internally ‘ _little boy? Ewwwwww!!! Pedo_!’

Yukio sent the clown a seething glance before lowering his gun slowly. Shiro moved next to his son and smirked at Yukio’s expression before turning his shrewd old eyes upon the other youth. Rin was also grinning now; it was empty and detached but a grin never the less. It was hilarious really, his old life on one side and the enemy on the other. ‘ _Master would find this curious’_.                              

“I know you” Mephisto continued softly “You caused us a large amount of difficulty in Germany a few months ago” Rin raised the other eyebrow so that both were close to his hairline at the declaration but said nothing, he knew of this Clown’s wrath. It was not exactly a secret; there was an entire book series of one of his temper tantrums!

“Where did you get your training from? It wasn’t from us, so who was it” Shiro asked quietly, his eyes downcast. Rin smirked and inclined his head to the side, feigning thought. His orders said nothing about fighting neither humans nor the demons that _work_ for them. That meant he had a free pass for whatever it was he did next…as long as it was not messy his boss would not care.

“Hummmmmm…. I’m unique, who says I’m trained?” Rin replied with a dreadful grin, his eyes shining wickedly as he ignited as staring contest with his elder brother, daring him to look away and give him the chance to escape. No one responded although the unsaid “Yer right” was painstakingly clear. 

When that did not work he said; “Meh, whatever. Why are _you_ here? Your etiquette says that after three days if the situation isn’t dealt with you…nuke it” Rin sat forwards, losing his grin and all mischievousness. “So I’ll ask once again, why are you still here. It must be significant if the two big guns of your little Order and their bitches are here to directly deal with it…” Rin trailed off as Mephisto and Shiro exchanged looks. It was not the sort that said, “ _We’ll tell you everything_ ”, appose to; they were going to do something stupid like try and capture him.

“How would _you_ know what our protocol is?” Yukio asked, breaking the silence left by Rin’s accusation. It sounded extremely snobby, but then again Rin suspected he would be the same if he had slept in a bed for four years instead of on the floor. Aside from the snide thought, Rin continued to ignore the younger exorcist, focusing on the Paladin and Demon Head Master before him. Shiro shifted uncomfortably and Rin narrowed his eyes.

“Unless…you can’t” Rin muttered and the eyes of the two men flared “You can’t Nuke the city ‘coz it’s too big-no that’s not it, you happily Nuked New York a couple of years ago…” the looks on their faces was priceless and if it had been any other day then Rin would have laughed. It was so fun messing with these people but the weight of his prise was slowly growing heavier and all it would take was one of these idiots getting a little too grabby and everything would be exposed. _‘Time to piss off Big Brother’_

“Performance problems then? Don’t worry…lack of certain appendages does that to people” the words had hardly left his lips when Mephisto snarled, hurling himself across the space between them at the younger of the two demons. Having anticipated the move Rin quickly rolled backwards, only just evading the attack before scrambling to his feet and setting off at a sprint; releasing a holly mist bomb. They wouldn’t stop the irrational jester but they would indubitably slow him down. The Humans would also be affected by them as well due to the hallucinate dust laced through the mist leaving the Halfling with a clean break.

Sniggering to himself, Rin took a deep breath and increased his speed before leaping with cat like grace, landing in the window on the second floor of the empty building a curse rolling off his tongue as Yukio unexpectedly jumped up after him. A swift kick to the shoulder as he landed in the room took Yukio down with a yelp, sending him crashing into a bookcase. He was – of cause – back on his feet within seconds but it was all the time Rin needed to take off up the stairs in an almost blur.       

The two brothers sprinted up the stairs, Rin about a ten steps above Yukio, both out of breath and both tired. Abruptly a memory of racing Yukio up the stairs when they were younger hit Rin and he almost faltered, allowing Yukio to gain a second on him. Flustered and harassed Rin almost gave a cry of pleasure as he reached the door, slamming it shut behind him.

Grinning as he saw his open space; large enough to cast the teleportation portal that he roused with natural ease. The door behind flung open just as Rin started to sprint towards the black vapour steadily expanding.

Yukio must have realised that his pursuit was futile as he began to shoot at Rin, hoping to stop him, or at least slow him down but none of the bullet seemed to hit, each slug screamed in frustration as they sped by him, rebounding off the concrete floor, or disappearing over the edge of the roof. One got lucky though for just as Rin was about to leap to safety, a cartridge ripped through his thigh and the half demon lost his concentration in a shriek of agony, falling through the portal with only a indistinct thought as to where he desired.

_‘Damn it Yukio!’_


	2. Memories in the Snow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continues from chapter one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god, we are so sorry about taking so long with this! We hope you enjoy it :)

The night was silent, the only sounds among the magnificent old trees that watched over the forest being a short and swift breathing pattern and the snapping of twigs beneath booted feet as a tall dark haired shirtless teenager staggered through the dark with a large bag weighting him down. A limp hindering him as he fought to walk quickly knowing how perilous the forest was at night what with the demons and other unsightly creatures of the night lurking about.

And with his clothing shredded and covered in blood and earth he might as well be waving a neon sign saying, _“I am weakened and bloody! Come and eat me!”_

A frayed torn piece of what looked like a t-shirt soaked through with blood was tightly bound around his leg, making his movements difficult as he tried to stoop down sharply at the rustling of a bush.

Wincing at the sharp jolt of pain that rushed through his leg as he was pulled off balance by his bag, Rin slumped to his knees and pulled out his gun, aiming it directly at the source of the noise instead of trying to dodge out of sight, which was his first instinct. The leaves rustled a little more before a white fluffy rabbit hopped out and if Rin was not in so much pain and not so bone-deep-tired, he would have sweat dropped at the sight of the small creature sniffing him calmly.

‘ _Just what I need…a defaulting rabbit with no sense of self-preservation’_ Rin thought shooing the rabbit, shifting his injured leg to stretch out in front of him whilst he lent against a tree. ‘ _A little rest couldn’t hurt me and its not like Master doesn’t know where I am’._

It was true, even now, he could feel the dark presence of his Master moving towards him through the mountains. An hour at most until he reached him; what better way to spend that time sleeping? Rin huffed as he moved to get comfortable, allowing his burden to slip off his shoulder. The rabbit - ignoring the shooing – curled up against Rin’s good leg like a little hot water bottle. He smiled slightly and began to pet the fluff ball surreptitiously contented with the company, even if it was only an animal.

The smile twisted into a grimace as he moved his leg slightly and white-hot pain flared from his thigh. ‘ _Damn Yukio’s a good shot with that bloody pistol…I was miles away…’_ He thought with a sense of twisted pride, but then again he had always been proud of Yukio…even when they fought. Even on the day of his “Death”

* * *

 

_The wind was gently running its fingers thought his hair like a lover’s caress…if said lover was also abusive, sending shivers down the spines of anyone caught in its grasp. The cold slowly seeped into his bones, ignoring the restrictions of clothing as a criminal would the law. Snow fell in unchartered patterns caught in the winds abuse twisting and turning to try to escape. It was a beautiful sight if you just stopped to watch.*_

_Rin smiled before turning to look at his school. A tall and striking building that forbid any kind of mischief or misconduct. The teenager grinned up at it, a silent challenge in his eyes because no matter how hard the teachers tried they never stomped that characteristic of his personality out. The wind spiked abruptly rushing up around him; catching the bottom of his jacket and tugging it about, his hair flew into his eyes and whipped at his face._

_Snorting Rin turned to the side and allowed himself to fall into the wall by the main gate, just in time to miss the chaos that the bell shrieking the freedom of all those imprisoned inside._

_Adolescents spilled out of the school gates – laughing and joking – oblivious to the false sorrow and anticipation spiralling around them. The older teens were hugging each other and crying; making empty promises to keep in touch, knowing that they would talk for a week before high school offered other – new – more exciting people._

_Rin found it utterly nauseating._

_Why Yukio insisted he graduate normal with everyone else was truly beyond his older brother, why hadn’t he just done what Rin had done; tell everyone nothing and collect his graduation stuff from the teacher that morning so to save having to expose to everyone that he was_ not _a flunk. Not that Yukio knew Rin had done that of course._

 _However, Yukio just_ had _to be perfect because ever since they turned twelve Yukio had under gone an immense change; he’d became stonier and a general displeasure to be around but recently it had been becoming more specified to just hating Rin._

 _It had even gotten to the point that_ Shiro _noticed and had finally had enough of their silent fighting, hence the reason why Rin was leaning against the railing of the school. Winking at the teachers that shot him nasty looks for having the balls to come to the school he never attended anyway waiting for his “brilliant” little brother._

 _A fan group had encircled Yukio the moment he stepped out of the doors as usual, giggling and bubbling girls as they said their goodbyes to their “Beloved Yukio-kun”. The girl that he had been walking with giggled herself before walking out of the gates alone. Rin watched her walk away with an arched eyebrow before turning back to his brother and his fan girls and boys. ‘_ Bleck, I bet if they saw him around the house, they would change their minds about how wonderful he was’ _._

_Yukio had a habit of acting like an ass when they were at the temple their father ran, he was also didn’t look the same. At school, he was laughing and talking and his eyes would be bright and full of life. At home, he was glaring and a general upset, his eyes dull and empty._

_Rin rolled his eyes and watched the people flood out, smirking when one of the would-be bad girls winked at him; she flustered when he let his eyes roam her body and ran away to her giggling friends. ‘_ I will never understand girls’ _. Yukio seemed to spot him because he grinned before frowning at something as if remembering to be angry with Rin. ‘_ Not that I’ll ever understand, some guy’s either, seems he’s still pissed about whatever it is that I’ve done to offend him, stupid Yukio’ _._

_Rin snorted and turned away from his brother, instead flicking through his phone, scowling at the amount of texts Shiro had sent to make sure he had, indeed gone to find Yukio. Rin rolled his eyes and deleted them, he didn’t need them and he wasn’t going to reply to them, he didn’t want them taking up space on his phone._

_Someone cleared their throat and Rin looked up disinterested to see Yukio observing him with a crooked eyebrow. Rin pushed down the rampant butterflies that were attempting to take over. Yukio was looking at him for the first time in weeks and there was something burning in his eyes._

_“Something you want Nii-san?” Yukio asked indifferently and Rin felt the familiar blaze of hurt at the neglect shown by his own brother before a cold distain flooded it, the butterflies crushed at the bottom of the emotional pile that he turned into whenever Yukio was around. Rin shrugged and smirked at a passing group of girls._

_“Not from you little brother” Rin sneered letting his gaze stay on the girls for a passing moment before he returned it to Yukio who was now glaring at him. “Old Man sent me, he noticed that your bitching at me and said that we’re not allowed to go home until we’ve “_ made friends _”” Yukio’s glare disappeared to be replaced with a cold blank mask._

_“I’m not ‘Bitching’ at you. We don’t need to make friends,” Yukio told him in that robotic tone of his. Rin grunted and heaved off the wall, walking away with his hands in his pockets._

_“Sure you’re not,” he murmured rolling his eyes. He could tell from the sound of footsteps that Yukio was following him, although he was deep in thought. Rin rolled his eyes again before biting his lip. Yukio had never been this angry at him before, not even when Rin went up to the girl Yukio liked and told her. Yukio had ignored him for two weeks before Rin broke into his room and hugged him to death. That was when they were eight, hugging the other 15 year old boy now however would result in a black eye and a killing headache._

_“Soooooo….who was the girl you were with when you came out of class?” Rin asked in a wearied tone, dropping back to walk next to Yukio who was blinking owlishly at the question, clearly caught off guard._

_“Oh, ummm…Just a friend” Yukio replied carefully, as if he was waiting for Rin to remark further on it. Rin caught the uncertain look before smiling warmly. Understanding straight away, something their father didn’t notice was that recently Yukio had been coming home with large dark bruises on his chest and stomach. At first, he had thought Yukio was self-harming and that was why he was being an ass but they kept appearing in places you’d only get hurt in during a fight._

_Rin_ had _thought about finding whoever did it and making them pay, but a quick encounter with his younger brother caused him to push the protective instincts that ruled his younger life down. Yukio could look after himself now, Rin had to give him room to grown to protect himself and he could not do that if every time he was beaten on Rin stepped in._

_“So she’s the reason for the bruises eh?” Yukio shot him an alarmed look that made Rin chuckle affectionately, happy to see the younger boy’s eyes soften as he returned the fond look. “She looked pretty…what’s her name?” Rin asked interested in the girl that had caught his brother’s eye. Yukio flustered for a couple of seconds before sighing and running a hand through his dark brown hair._

_“Jean-Lee, she’s a transfer” Yukio explained with a guilty smile. Rin grinned, happy that Yukio was opening up to him. It made his heart flutter and something warm flood his chest. “And yer she’s the indirect course, the school jock has his eye on her and I made the mistake of telling him to back off after he tried to pressure her into seeing him” Rin sent Yukio a flabbergasted look._

_“You told someone to piss off? Moreover, I missed it. Well damn!” Rin muttered and almost burst with happiness as Yukio threw his head back and laughed. It was almost like how they used to be before they turned seven, the carefree happy atmosphere was warmer than the cold and bitter one that had surrounded them for the past couple of years._

_“I miss this…” Yukio suddenly stated, staring straight ahead, ignoring Rin when he looked to him taken aback by the sudden announcement. “I miss walking home with you whilst we talk about things – anything – ...I feel as if I hardly see you anymore,” Yukio said and this time he met Rin’s electric blue gaze with his own sea foam blue._

_Rin swallowed, they were in dangerous territory now. Yukio did not like it when the fight club was brought up, nor did he like it when Rin went out drinking with his “friends” and Rin didn’t want to argue with his younger half. They may have been twins but they could not get any different._

_“Ummm, yer well you and the old man are doing your training for taking over the church and becoming a doctor ect,” Rin didn’t see Yukio flinch “ I…I…err….” Rin sighed. There was no point sugar coating it, if he was going to answer Yukio’s question, he needed to be truthful about it, despite that it would hurt. “ I just felt like a third wheel whenever I was around so I started going out and now I find it hard to come home” Yukio stopped walking and so did Rin, but he didn’t look at the younger._

_“I felt like I wasn’t wanted there, like I was imposing. The fighting helps me forget that I will never be as good a son as you” Yukio took a harsh breath and Rin exhaled. ‘_ Ah fuck, I did not mean to make him angry nor upset’ _. Talking to Yukio was always like this, it was like walking on eggshells – something Rin hated – and he had to watch what he said. Rin stared at the floor cursing the growing frustration and animosity that practically ruled his life recently._

 _“I didn’t know me and father gave you the impression that we didn’t want you” Yukio replied stiffly. Rin groaned internally, so much for things being better. He sighed and turned to look at Yukio, the younger looked hurt and angry. ‘_ Shit…’

_“Yukio…”_

_“Shut up. You know what Nii-san, maybe if you actually tried and gave a damn about your life then father and I wouldn’t exclude you from our “little family”” Yukio raged, Rin observed him silently for a second. The younger was pissed, that much was clear. His eyes were dilated, and his cheeks were flustered pink, his glasses were crooked on his nose and his fists were balled up. Rin sighed. ‘_ If only Yukio could see the diploma* tucked away in my bag that would certainly change his mind’.

_“Right. Whatever you say little brother. Tell the old man I’ll be late coming home, I’ll be missing dinner,” Rin drawled, slipping his cold mask on to shield him from Yukio. This happened every time Rin tried to let Yukio in. Yukio would react viciously and Rin would leave and not be seen for days._

_“I leave tomorrow,” Yukio muttered, suddenly looking remorseful. Rin said nothing his emotions shut off; he couldn’t let them back on to have them spat in back in his face…again._

_Why was Yukio telling him that? He knew that he was going away to his new high school that he worked hard to get into whilst Rin moved to France to work in the restaurant that had recruited him, although neither Yukio nor Shiro knew that. Yet._

_“Don’t worry; I won’t be around to mess up your leaving party. Good Bye little brother and good luck. Show those rich assholes that your better than them” Rin said with a small fake sad smile before walking away, leaving Yukio looking lost and angry on the walk way._

_“…I wish you didn’t exist” it was a whisper but the wind carried it to Rin and the raven closed his eyes, fighting back tears._

_“You and me both,"_

 

* * *

 

 

“Rin”

The half demon’s eyes snapped open and they flared a demonic blue for a second before they settled into his normal bright blue, the flames of his Father having long since burnt out the coloured contact lenses that he had _been_ wearing. Green was kinda his thing when on missions like that, green was the colour of nature and Nature was unforgiving no matter who you were.

Looking up the teen stiffened before groaning in acknowledgment, his bright eyes staring holes into the hood worn by his Master who was looking…dishevelled.

Normally his Master wore a red velvet cloak with the hood drawn up covering his head so that only his mouth showed, a silver ribbon of hair pulled over his left shoulder and his hands nearly always tucked behind him. Right now however, his usually elegant Master had his hood drawn up more so that the tip of his nose escaped the dark confinements of his hood, his silver hair flowed over both shoulders and his arms folded across his chest.

“What have I told you about sleeping in the forest?” His tone was piercing and Rin finally noted that low-level demons that occupied the forest were surrounding them. Rin grinned blushingly as he told the lower demons to leave mentally. Knowing that if he said it out aloud his Master would think he was mocking him. What with the elder Demon being restricted in what he could do with his abilities. His Master had once told him that banishment was a bitch.

“Sorry Master, my leg prevented me from moving any longer,” Rin, uttered lowering his head when the sharp line that was his Master’s mouth didn’t soften. _Master must be pissed at me…I_ did _almost fail my mission._ Rin thought as he pressed down on the healing flesh of his leg, before he struggled to his feet, his bag gripped tightly. Lurching sideways Rin heard his Master sigh before a tight grip caught his elbow, faltering his collision with the forest floor. Muttering a thank you the younger of the two corrected himself, breathing heavily as pain raced up his leg and seeped into the newly formed hole in his leg, almost crippling the young man.

Niro sighed again as he watched on as his student struggled to hold his own even though he was clearly suffering from blood loss, fatigue and pain. The boy really needed to learn to rely on others. It was worrying enough that the little Halfling refused to work with a team; it was annoying that he did it because he didn’t want to trouble anyone else.

“You need to learn how to rely on those around you Rin,” Niro muttered as the boy collapsed into him.

“You can’t do everything by yourself” But the advice was unheard as Rin had already slipped into a restless sleep, letting the day’s events finally catch up with him. Between them the dark bag hit the ground and spilled its contents; a glowing azure diamond.

 

* * *

 

_Three months later…_

Yukio stormed down the aging corridor to his room in the old boy’s dormitory, a vulgar mood gripping him tightly.

It had taken three months – _three whole bloody months_ – for the exorcists to respond to the escape of the Freelancing Operative and even then, it was not satisfactory (at least in Yukio’s eyes).

The diplomatic approach taken had resulted in a group of snivelling, easy talking, slim-balls flying out to England to try and sweet-talking the freelancer’s boss into not taking any more actions against them. Because the Knights had ruled that because the _Boy_ had been on a mission and in the city first, _they_ were in the wrong – more likely, they were still pissed with Shiro for that April fool’s prank, they never liked Mephisto…and this unknown adversary apparently had the bigger “Gun” if it were. 

The elusive leader had not taken too kindly to the talks and proceeded to allow his minions to have a little fun with them. The bodies had been shipped back a week later with a note apologising for not returning them in the same state that they were given in.

They arrived in a shoebox.

Mephisto had been in a violent rage for months after, yelling and dishing out the worse punishment possible at anyone who so much as breathed too heavily. The exwires and other lower ranks began avoiding him as a rule, whilst the higher ranks joked about how he was just irritated about the loss of his tail flaunted in his face and being unable to punish the kid that had so daringly brought it up, to his face no less!

Shiro in comparison was taking the current situation rather well. He had issued new lesson criteria for everyone from lower first class – the very same class that Yukio taught as their homeroom teacher – to higher second class. An entire hour and a half dedicated to learning how to fight known freelancing circles.

_“…This is not a way to defeat them, this is a means to escape from their attacks,” he had told them with an uncharacteristically straight morbid face. Yukio had seen Bon shiver slightly but did not comment. “When dealing with a Freelancers you need to forget everything you have ever been taught about fighting demons and monsters because there is no safety in number when they are your opponent. They have been known to destroy entire forts just to get to one man” Shiro had fixed them with a hard stare that showed them he wasn’t joking and that he wasn’t exaggerating the extremes that these people took to ensure their target was caught._

_“They will kill you the first chance they get, so don’t stick around”_

Yukio’s step faulted as he remembered his Fathers words at the very end of the lesson. Out of everything said and done in that lesson it was those parting words that really struck Yukio with disclosure and – although he couldn’t explain it – resentment. Yukio had had to literally bite his tongue. Something he had not needed to do since before Rin passed.

He could not say the things rushing through his head, no one was supposed to know who this mysterious group was, but he had heard the whispering in the corridors. The hushed tones that hissed the name Niro out when they thought they were alone. Yukio had only ever heard that name once before; an hour before they found Rin’s mangled body. Yukio inhaled unsteadily, he wasn’t supposed to have heard that, wasn’t supposed to know that was who Rin was going to see the night he died, that it was because Shiro drove Rin out that night that he died. Yukio was supposed to know nothing…but he did.

“If this freelancer is training his people to kill us on sight then why didn’t _he_? And if this is Niro, why would he be working against us?” Yukio only presumed to utter the enquiry that had been tormenting him once he was alone in his room with the door barricaded and the windows locked. It was a valid question, why hadn’t the boy that had an aura so much like Rin’s killed them rather than knock them out? Was it some form of rebellion or a whim? It was as if his brain was on a constant loop, stuck on the same thing, catching over and over and over again.

It had even gone so far as to Yukio dreaming of the boy. He was an enigmatic to Yukio in that every time he thought of the freelancer his brain involuntarily made the link to Rin. It was only natural what with the small things that He had done in their short encounter. The way He had tilted His head with that childish inquisitiveness, the amused glint in His eyes and the sense of security that He had admitted like His natural smell; all of it reminded Yukio so much of his lost brother.

The stab of aching from his heart had Yukio staggering to his bed as he bit his lip, fighting the tears and he tried unsuccessfully to stamp out the pain left by the Rin shaped hole in his heart. Shiro thought that they were close when they were younger, boarding on self-reliant what with the way that they instantaneously ran to the other whenever there was a problem before they went to Shiro.

When Yukio was hurting from the bullying or frightened from the imperceptible demons he would run and hide behind Rin. When Rin was upset and needed a hug or reassurance that he was not an aberration he would turn to Yukio. They lent on each other and Shiro had no idea how close they had really been, even when they grew up they still managed to stay closer than normal for two twin boys.

Until Yukio was accepted to True Cross academy, everything changed after that.

Yukio bit his lip once again and closed his eyes on the tears threatening to fall. He’d called off their friendship a week before Rin had died on the stupid notion that once Yukio was in high school they’d be seeing less of each other and that Rin wouldn’t move on with his life if he held on to his little brother.

His big brother had been full of wonders, one of them came in the form of a phone call from a five star restaurant in Paris asking where Rin was, and why he hadn’t turned up to work. Then there was the diplomas tucked smartly into the bag that the elder twin had been carrying the night he died.

It made Yukio hate himself even more.

He had ripped Rin down the day he died, saying he needed to try.

Everything Yukio Knew about his brother had been false. He was _not_ a drop out, he was _not_ a knucklehead, and he _did_ have a heart. Yukio bit his fist before taking a trembling breath.

Now was not the time to be thinking of Rin, he had a mission in an hour and he still needed to pack and round up his students who were coming with him. Slipping back on his mask Yukio strolled to his door placing a hand on the handle before pausing to look back at his desk. He smiled slightly before slipping out into the deserted corridor.

Back on his desk a picture of two little boys’ in incorruptibility harmony continued to laugh; unaware of what was to come.


	3. The Staff of Moses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We do not own anything except the laptop that we have posted this on. 
> 
> Neither of us are religious so please forgive us if any of our facts are incorrect, although we know one or two of them to be wrong already. 
> 
> Enjoy :)

The Staff of Moses was an object of legend and fame, even in the time of Moses himself. The Lord supposedly lent the mystical staff to his most desperate of followers, giving them the chance and opportunity to better them and their lives. Of course the Lord had expected his people to return his gift once they had escaped their captors but as they crossed the Red Sea a young boy took the Staff and disappeared into the night without a trace. Enraged that his gift had been misplaced so carelessly, the Jews were sentenced to wander the desert for forty years to pay for their carelessness.

From there, the Staff changed many hands on black markets, and underhand deals and poisoned many lives as only the pure of heart and soul could weld the Staff without sever repercussions. Eventually the Staff returned to the hands of those loyal to the Lord, and celebration erupted across the word. But it was too late. The Staff had been corrupted by the filth of the world.

Legend now tells of the Staff being buried in the foundations of The Temple of Golden Monks in Germany – and fabled to have driven all the residents of the lower levels of the temple insane thousands of years ago. Turning them ravenous for power, the staff devastated their mental barriers until they allowed demons to possess their bodies. Most ripped themselves apart in seconds; the monks that did not die right away festered before moving up through the Temple to torture the others that stayed in the upper temples. It wasn’t until they attacked the village bellow the Temple that the head monks intervened, killing all the infected prayers that they could before ordering the Staff to be locked away for all eternity.

…. Apparently, eternity did not last as long as it used to. Drunken Looters accidently unearthing the cursed wood probably didn’t help either.

The temple itself was perched on the peak of a mountain range that was near impossible to climb, fly, or drive to. You had to know the path as well as your own face to survive, and even then, you risked death with every step you took.

The senior Monks had occupied the towers that reached up in to the heavens on the utmost peaks, their great halls elaborate and spectacular to be seen for miles around. Rumoured to be touched by angle grace and designed to capture the light of the Lord no matter what time of day. It was here that the Temples Leaders withdrew when the demons swarmed the temple all those centuries ago. The great doors falling shut and sealing them inside, and the stories of their screams carried fables of the horrors that had befallen those trapped inside, having to turn to cannibalism to survive and losing their path to God and his palace.

Only the five Monk Elders escaped out of the mountains via a small passage that lead to one of the villages bellow – It was also these five Elders that later founded the True Cross Order but that is a different story for a different time.

The Temples had been a feasting ground for demons and ghouls ever since the tragedy and no sane creature even dared to venture past the forest that coddled the base of the mountain like an unspoken sentry. No animals occupied the mountain either, and most of the greenery was dead, shrived and desolate.

Rin however, was not entirely a hundred percept sure he was sane and had no such issues or restraints about climbing almost forgotten path of the cursed mountains to look for a bloody stick that had a nasty habit of driving people loopy – although he strongly suspected that he should be worried.

This might have been because of the blood of Satan rushing through his veins; it might have been because of the tattoo imprinted onto his left shoulder blade (A painful experience that had left a burning loathing of Holly Water etched deeply into Rin’s memories and soul. That shit hurt!), which gave him a sense of inconspicuousness. The truth was they did not know what it was that made him invisible to the world of demons and monster and personally, Rin did not like to dwell on his stranger skills when it came to being the son of Satan as it made him sullen.

Besides, it was always amusing to see the looks of alarm and surprise in the faces of his targets when he appeared out of nowhere before lobbing off their heads.

“Next time, he can get his own damn stick,” Rin grumbled to himself through the thick arctic shemagh wrapped around his face as he trekked through the snowy forest in the dark hours of the morning, glaring at the shadowy trees that loomed over him like bars on a cage blocking the dark mornings early pink and orange of the sky, not that the obscure mass of mountain didn’t do a decent enough job of _that_ as it was.

Niro had been kind enough to chip in for Rin to buy new arctic gear; a fitted fur trimmed jacket with a ridged hood, a pair of top of the line white ski trousers and grey fur-lined snow boots and a matching beanie hat that was crammed over Rin’s newly cut short hair. Rin had swiped the heavy-duty snow gloves and shemagh from a corner shop down at the bottom of the valley after Niro refused to buy him new ones, which actually fit. The ski goggles that were perched atop of the beanie, however were nicked from one of Niro’s more profitable minions and would probably be calling for Rin’s head, blood and first born when he realised they were missing.

Not that Rin cared all that much; dude was an asshat anyway.

Due to the winter wear being fitted for ease of movement, there wasn’t much space for Rin to hide his usual arsenal so everything had been re-located from his waist and hips to the pockets of his trousers and a sword case the teen had attached to the coats back.

It was a learning curve remembering where everything had been relocated and was currently making him want to cry...or scream. Screaming worked too.

Blowing out a cloud of breath, Rin buried deeper into the arctic jacket and tucked his hands into his pockets along side a few mist bombs he’d shoved in there earlier, fighting off a shiver as a intensely cold gush of wind swept through the trees and crashed into him as if it was trying to pry him off the side of the mountain. The cold curled around him and Rin felt a fleeting moment of raw hunger.

Not the type that could be quenched by food of the sociably acceptable kind, but rather blood and human flesh, something he could sink his teeth into and rake his claws across, the very thing that he renounced just over five years ago. Aggravated, Rin sank his teeth down on his bottom lip and hissed as the pain and splash of his own blood brought him out of the Staff’s spell.

_‘Fantastic. That certainly explains why the villagers are terrified of wind’_ Rin thought to himself as he began to move again, shacking his head as his mood turned even more sour. Damn stick.

“Fuck you Moses!”

 

 

* * *

 

 

By the time Rin had passed through the lower temples the sun had raised over the horizon and was nearing the noon high, casting the snow and temple in bright yellow light. Some of which was shinning down in beans through holes in the roof, occasionally catching the youth who was dancing gracefully along the rickety wooded beams that used to be the floor in the upper temple singing “ _Uma Thurman_ ” to the empty room bellow. The teenager had just cleared half of the room when he realised he could hear the pulsation of roughly five hearts, all of which sounded fluttery as if they were terrified or at least anxious.

_Humans_ , his mind provided helpfully before the image of himself sinking his teeth into flesh overwhelmed him and the teen cursed violently as he lost his balance and nearly tumbled off the beams in surprise.

Crouching down the teen sniffed the air, saliva pooling in his mouth against his will. Digging his nails into his palms Rin closed his eyes and cleared his mind, for once pushing the rage of his human down forcibly.

“The one time I don’t want to be remotely human and you let my human nature take over completely and it has to be _now_?” Rin snarled to himself as he tried to block out the whispering of that damned stick. Of course, the staff would not affect his demon nature but his human side would be flooded. It was just Murphy’s Law wasn’t it?

Shaking himself like a dog, he uncurled himself out of the defensive squat he had dropped into with the blood lust wave. Rin closed his eyes and tilted his head to the side and tried to determine where about the humans were. It would do no good to cross paths with them if they had succumbed to the Staff’s sway, even with his father’s skill set, someone was bound to get hurt (or killed) if he accidently ran into them, if it was because they were bloodthirsty or him was the only uncertainty.

Normally – however – It would not be an issue if he lost control and killed someone but orders were orders, and Niro _was_ a tyrant for order. After Tokyo, the elder wanted Rin to try and control his impulses better; it wasn’t going well.

Annoyingly, the drum of his own heart was hammering too loudly for him to pinpoint the exact location any more accurate than to the west of where he stood currently, by how far he couldn’t tell.

“Damn it” Rin cursed, rubbed at his face roughly with coarse lithe fingers, and let out a clouded breath through clenched teeth. ‘ _Why does this kind of thing_ always _happen to me?’_ Shaking his head Rin pushed his irritation to the back of his mind and returned to his singing although it was a little less cheery now what with his mood once again souring.

The mission was bad enough but having to wake up nearly two hours earlier than usual was a killer. Plus, the ‘Grunts’ did this type of stuff, the hunting and procurement of dangerous relics that the humans and fellow demons could use to cause mass chaos, but for some peculiar reason they were all on house arrest.

‘ _Well…cave arrest is a much more accurate’_ Rin though absentmindedly, still pouting. And it was probably due to the incident a few months back where Niro had come “home” partially dripping with a few someone else blood and in a mood darker than death itself. Since then Rin had been picking up the slack and constantly having to sooth his master’s temper, it was a particularly difficult balance act. For instant, the moment he returned Rin would most likely be called into Niro’s ‘bedroom’ where the two of them would remain cooped up until the following morning, meditating and training. ]

Rin was about three quarters of the way through the grand hall when his though process cut off and he abruptly froze, the hairs on the back of his neck prickling like an age-old instinct telling him to run, to run and never stop. His legs tensed up ready to sprint on that instinct’s warning before a more rationally, less instinctive part of him kicked in causing Rin to blink in surprise. ‘ _What the…’_

**_Bump…bump…bump…bump…_ **

It was with a jolt that Rin realised the five heartbeats from earlier were literally just round the corner from him.

‘ _Oh, shit’_. Vaulting up on to the higher – smaller and less secure – support poles away from the beating hearts Rin crouched down quickly, desperately trying to hide in the shadows, not wanting a repeat of last time he ran into humans on a mission.

The buzz of voices sounded just off from where Rin had swung himself up on to the current level, which was just west of the beam that Rin had been standing on…right in plain view. If Rin had not moved in time, they would have had a clear sight of him looking like a stunned fish. Peevish at his recklessness, he turned his head slightly to listen to what they were saying but could only catch snippets that drifted up to him from his perch.

“…this is stupid; I say the people down there are just insane”

“You don’t know that Idiot! There really could be something up here infecting the people”

“The cold? I have always thought you had to be crazy to willingly live somewhere cold”

“No Shima not the cold. You heard the stories, the-”

“The Staff of Moses”

_‘Oh this is just brilliant’_ Rin thought huffily as he recognised the last voice. ‘ _As if the day could get any better’_

It was the last person that Rin wanted to face right now, what with his recently healed leg tenderly painfully in an unnecessary reminder of what happened _last_ time they clashed. For even with the healing properties in demon blood, his leg was still injured and tender as hell from when Yukio shot him, the bullet must have been soaked in holly water, because no matter what Rin’s master had done the wound still hampered the Halflings movements. Causing stiffness in the limb when certain positions were held for extended amounts of time, like crouching for example.

‘ _Wait a second’_ Rin thought suddenly as he looked back down at the group, wrinkling his nose in distaste as he watched his twin brother kitted out in black thermals stride towards the enter of the room with a chilling certainty that almost made Rin smile despite his irritation with the younger boy. Yukio walked across the beams with little trouble whilst his fellow exorcist stumbled after him, moving slowly, and wobbling hazardously.

“I wouldn’t fall if I were you, I heard that the trapped monks are still stuck down there” Yukio called over his shoulder and Rin sniggered quietly as the others turned pale. Even the boy who had claimed not to believe paused for a second before scoffing.

‘ _So the Order is after the Staff as well are they? Interesting…wonder what they want that for_ ’ the raven wondered to himself as he straightened up and began to follow them from above, careful to avoid the rotting parts of wood, damp from the cold and rain of aeons. ‘ _that would be hell on earth is they ever got that damn stick before me_ ’

Rin knew better than to fail on this mission because whilst this was just a grunt job it was probably the most important one there ever was. The exorcists were humans, and humans could not handle to the Staff. Made to control and force them to believe in the big man upstairs, it was not meant to be left among them. However – of course – there was always one who thought otherwise.

Scoffing to himself Rin danced above Yukio’s head for a second before darting head, dodging back into the shadows as the younger twin looked up with narrowed eyes.

“Keep moving, it might not be human but there is defiantly something here,” Yukio told his little duckies and in very little time the group was pausing at the end of the room with Rin sat on the joist beams above their heads with an amused smirk as the girl with weird eyebrows flicked one of her pigtails over her shoulder. She glared at Strippy – it seemed they were the same group that was in Tokyo, plus two – who seemed to growl at her.

“Yer, probably the villagers that went missing last week” She sneered and Rin rolled his eyes. They clearly didn’t walk up the mountain, or they would have found two of the three missing villagers, which reminded Rin; he needed to stop off in the village on his way home to kill the third missing villager who had returned home after ripping apart his friend and girlfriend.

Bellow the others continued to argue and Rin was not quite sure if this was the Staff taking control of their minds…or if this was just normal behaviour for them, exorcists were a crazy bunch of people after all. In fact, Rin very much doubted that unless you were like him and Yukio whose biological father was The Devil you had to be bat shit crazy to believe in demons.

Strippy spat back “Bullshit. This Staff of Moses driving them all crazy is a load of crap,” she snorted and opened her mouth to retort.

“Shut it. Both of you” Yukio interrupted suddenly, turning back to face them with a stern look about him. The teenagers – including Rin – turned to look at him, even though Rin was still smiling and unseen by all of them. “The Staff – whether you believe in it or not Bon – feeds off negative feelings. If you two insist on having you lovers spat in the middle of this temple then I suggest you go do it somewhere else before you infect us all” they said nothing “Good. Now our intelligence says that the monks buried it in the foundations of the isolation chambers. There are three routes to the chambers so we are split up into two’s. Bon and Konekomaru you take the left door – no funny business, Izumo and Shiemi you take the right. Shima you are with me, we will take the centre. Meet back here in an hour – do not try being the hero. We all move together”

The other teens nodded once then instantly – as if someone had flicked a switch – the exorcists scattered, leaving only Yukio and Pinkie standing on the beams bellow the amused raven-haired boy.

‘ _Their information is wrong…the Staff isn’t buried in the Isolation chambers, it’s in the Main Prayer room_ ’

Not that Rin was going tell them, if they wanted to go nosy in some dark, damp, creepy chambers then Rin was of the opinion that they should be left to it. Besides it kept them out of his hair _and_ made his escape a whole lot easier. That would have been the logical thing to do. Just leave, get what he came for, and leave again. No mess, no issue. Quick, clean and simple. The best kinds of plans, the kind that legends were made of. The smart kind of plan.

He followed the two boys’.

Rin knew he should not and that it was just asking for more trouble than it was worth by following the others but some part of him just could not bring himself to leave his little brother in such a dangerous place. Even thought the little bastard had shot him last time he tried helping out the humans. Even though they had no idea he was attempting to help them.

‘ _Maybe_ _insanity runs in the family?_ ’ Rin wondered idly as he swung into the lower less sheltered supports to avoid passing into the next floor, five or six beats behind the other two. ‘ _That would certainly explain a couple of things_ ’

They had not even taken more than fifth-teen steps before there was a loud crack that bounced off the walls like a flashlight and all three boys’ froze with their hearts in their throats and pounding loudly.

_What was that?_ They all though simultaneously. Rin began to lower into a crouch in case he needed to jump to his brothers defence when he felt the wood bellow his feet shake just before a sound splitting crack shot up again. False-green eyes flickered down and for the first time with a sense of dread, slowly rising up inside him Rin noticed that the wood all along this section of corridor was rotten and worn-through.

The raven-haired one froze as he felt the spar quiver under his feet again and bellow him the humans slowly looked up, with what nearly verged on fear in their eyes sending shivers through Rin. Their eyes too weak to see through the gloom that Rin was standing in the two boys could do nothing but guess what was lurking above them. Pinkie, very much looking as if he were constipated, muttered something too low for Rin to catch but loud enough for Yukio and the boy reacted immediately by stepping backwards, further into the hallway. 

“Get back” He ordered Pinkie with a tone that their Father used to use whenever one of his “Home Jobs” went blotchy. The little human obeyed without question and despite himself and the situation, Rin smirked weakly.

‘ _Control Freak much?_ ’

The beam creaked again and this time a shower of wood dust fell onto the duo bellow, making them cough and splutter, franticly rubbing at their eyes as they tried to get the dust out. Only Yukio had moved far enough out of the way and now he stared up unblinking – trying to locate Rin in the inky shadows above.

The wood rumbled bellow Rin’s feet and he held his breath as he watched little cracks expand into larger gaps as the wood began to split in two. Silently he cursed.

If he moved, so much as an inch the wood would collapse and to be frank Rin really did not trust that – with or without demon mojo – he would be able to clear the wood in time to not be caught and pulled down as well. Maybe if his leg was not still healing but even then it would be close. His only chance would be to try to reach another beam just to the left of him at shoulder height. If he just reached out a little…he could _just_ …about…reach the beam. His fingers brushed the wood and Rin felt a smirk pull at his lips ‘ _Yes!_ ’ Then the inevitable happened, Rin shifted his weight just a little bit too much on to one leg and…

…the joist abruptly gave way from underneath him in an explosion of rotting wood and mouldy thatch. Now do not be put off, _normally_ Rin would have easily caught a hold of a slightly lower and more stable support beam. He would have swung up and easily concealed himself back within the shadows however; it is significantly harder to do this when you have a semi-healed bullet wound in your thigh and a fuck load of exploding wood caught among your legs. Consequently, the raven teen fell with a sharp yelp, helpless to stop his decent, a cloud of dust hot on his heels.

‘ _Brilliant_ ’ Rin thought as he crashed into someone bellow. ‘ _You know Universe, when I asked if this day could get any worse it was a question, NOT A CHALLENGE_ ’

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Yukio coughed and blinked like mad into the ancient floorboards as dust and wood shavings fell down around him from the explosion of wood just moments before. Groaning the teen pushed himself up from where he’d leapt to safety from the explosion, a nimble hand rubbing the side of his head as he tried to get a bearing on his surroundings.

Where there should have been a pink haired figure empty space ruled instead and Yukio felt a stab of panic. Where was Shima? Thoughts of the teen laying dead behind him caught Yukio and he hopped to god that his friend wasn’t currently being eaten by something. Movement in the dust cloud abruptly caught the young man’s eye.

Narrowing his eyes against the dust Yukio let out a sigh of relief as he saw a darken shape move within. Shima had been stood right bellow whatever had fallen down and the first thought to run through Yukio’s mind was more or less along the lines of ‘ _dear god please don’t tell me I just got one of my students squashed by an unknown creature’_.

That relief froze in his chest as he caught the snippet end of a hushed argument.

“-need to eat more mate, you’re not a very good pillow”

“Oh shut up and get off me strange talking demon”

“Now that’s just rude. I’m not that strange”

Frowning, Yukio stood up silently and moved closer to the sound of the voices. He squinted through the dust again, trying to see what was going on without giving away his location. He didn’t get very far because as soon as his right foot touched down on the wooden plank before him there was a rush of air and the dust disappeared with a pop.

Yukio blinked in surprise at the sudden clear air before him. He blinked a couple of more times before biting his lip slightly.

If he had been anyone else – maybe Shima – then the sight before him would have had him doubled over with laughter, despite the danger. Because to be honest, seeing your pink haired teammate sat on by, a rather irritated looking raven-haired boy was somewhat amusing. Especially when the raven looked like he was pouting rather than scowling and despite his cold attitude, Yukio could have sworn he felt the corner of his lips twitch.

Then he recognised the raven-haired boy sat on his friend and all forms of entertainment shrivelled up and died. Quicker than the human eye could follow, Yukio had his gun out and pointing at the two tangled boy’s. At the sound of his safety, clicking off a pair of liquid green eyes snapped to meet his and Yukio felt his body pulse with the desire to run from the malice swirling in the depths of green.

**__ **


End file.
